12/22/2012

Daddy's Girl

Back in March, I started a story (HERE and HERE) about the Blanchette family of Manteno, Illinois.

The story revolved around Alisa Blanchette and her four children- Luke, Addison, Brooke and Kendall.

Alisa was struggling to adjust to life without her husband Cory, who was struck and killed while jogging on a foggy morning in November 2011.

After the story, written by Tribune staff writer Stacy St. Clair, was published, I decided to continue to document the Blanchette family.

As I alluded to in one of the previous posts, I found myself focusing mostly on Alisa's oldest daughter Addison.

I was drawn to Addison, more than the other children, because she seemed to wear her heart on her sleeve.

Definitely his "Daddy's Girl", Addison has struggled greatly with the loss of her father.

I can't thank Alisa Blanchette enough for allowing me to hang out with the family throughout 2012.

I was there for Addison's 6th birthday party, the inaugural Cory Blanchette Memorial 5K, a bus trip to Wrigley Field, where Addison's brother Luke threw out a ceremonial first pitch and all the kids got to run the bases after the game, on Sunday trips to the Morton Arboretum, for sleepy mornings before school and at Addison's primary school Christmas pageant.

I even traveled to Florida as the Blanchettes spent Halloween and the one-year anniversary of Cory's death at Disney World away from sad memories back in Illinois.

These are the type of stories that I strive to tell.

A long term documenting of small, subtle moments that reveal larger truths.